Formation of normal interdigital web spaces in the hand revisited: Implications for the pathogenesis of syndactyly in humans and experimental animals

Abstract

The creation of the normal web spaces has been attributed to apoptosis. This paper presents evidence that lysosomal-mediated cell death and extracellular matrix degradation are important events in addition to cell death by apoptosis. The author proposes the use of the term interdigital cell death- extracellular matrix degradation instead of interdigital apoptosis . Furthermore, the concept of web creation by differential growth is introduced along with the discussion of the latest research in molecular biology and genetics on the topic.